Procurement
issues will take center stage in upcoming legislative sessions, according
to a survey of AIA state and local components conducted by the AIA Government
Affairs department. Other issues for which components anticipate legislative
activity this year include:
- Efforts to expand professional service taxes to architects
- Statewide building-code adoption
- Tort reform
- Interior-design practice acts.
Components said they plan to advocate for the adoption of qualifications-based
selection (QBS), design-build, and other alternative forms of procurement-delivery
systems.
The AIA national component administers the survey to help chapters plan
their legislative activities and increase awareness of the advocacy efforts
by their colleagues nationwide. In addition to tracking anticipated legislative
activity, the survey follows how state components view other groups and
their working relationships with those groups. Mirroring a trend of previous
surveys, components indicated that they work most closely with engineering
groups, giving them a rating of 4.25 out of a possible 5.
Based
on the survey, the AIA Government Affairs department expects a continuation
of the state legislative environment that has prevailed for the past few
years. In many states, economic uncertainty and budget shortfalls mean
difficult decisions regarding spending priorities. Many states already
have resorted to short-term budget fixes and now need more permanent solutions,
which may mean considering taxes on professional services, school stock
plans, design-build, the bidding of A/E services, and construction management.
The AIA Government Affairs department will work closely with components
to provide resources to assist with their advocacy efforts.
Copyright 2004 The American Institute of Architects.
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